Snapdragon 4 and 6 Gen 5 bring 90fps ambitions further downmarket

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 and Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 are beginning to matter more as manufacturers prepare second-half 2026 devices around the platforms. Qualcomm says the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 can deliver up to 21 percent better GPU performance than its predecessor, while the Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 brings support for 90fps gaming to the 4-series for the first time and claims a much larger generational GPU improvement.

That matters because the most important growth in mobile gaming does not necessarily happen on thousand-euro flagships. Mid-range and affordable phones account for much larger shipment volumes globally, especially in Asia, Latin America and other markets where competitive mobile gaming is enormous. Better graphics and smoother displays at lower price points expand the addressable audience for developers without forcing them to maintain drastically reduced versions of their games.

Honor, Redmi, OPPO and realme are among the manufacturers expected to use the new platforms.